The Journal Gazette, Fort Wayne, Indiana

Putting ‘community’ in college
New Ivy Tech leader visits local campus

By Krista J. Stockman

Strengthening Ivy Tech Community College’s mission, particularly economic and workforce development, will be a focus for the institution’s new president, Thomas Snyder, he said Friday during a visit to Fort Wayne.

Snyder, 62, was selected Ivy Tech’s new leader in March at a meeting that became controversial because the board of trustees approved Snyder with little public discussion after meeting for hours in closed session, which Indiana Public Access Counselor Karen Davis said may have broken state law. The board reconfirmed its vote last month.

Snyder replaces Gerald Lamkin, who is retiring June 30 after nearly 25 years as Ivy Tech’s president. Snyder said he offers a different type of background to lead Ivy Tech in its mission to serve as a community college where credits transfer easily from one institution to another and where economic and workforce development are a focus.

Snyder has been chairman of Flagship Energy Systems Center since 2006 after 12 years as president of Anderson-based auto parts supplier Remy International Inc. and more than two decades with General Motors Corp. in Anderson.

“Since I’m a non-traditional candidate in this state, I gave them an option to look at this differently,” Snyder said.

One of his goals, he said, is to develop a consistent statewide story for Ivy Tech.

“People don’t necessarily know what we do,” Snyder said. Many people only see the college in their community, which sometimes is in a storefront, and don’t realize the expanse of the system, he said.

Statewide, Ivy Tech has 23 campuses, 7,000 employees and 100,000 students, he said. But often, the system’s regions operate as separate entities. He will be working with the chancellors to determine the future of the system and how they can work together on everything from purchasing to academic programs.

One of the programs the college system is starting in the fall is called “College for Working Adults” and is similar to programs offered by many for-profit colleges. Students sign up for a fixed schedule that will allow them to receive a degree in two years. Fort Wayne’s campus will offer programs in business administration, medical assistance, early-childhood education and criminal justice, while other campuses will offer other degrees.

“If they give us two nights (or days) of their life, we’ll give them a degree in two years,” Fort Wayne Chancellor Mark Keen said. “We are strategically positioning these (programs) in our region. We’re going to try to attract working people.”

As Ivy Tech settles into its role as a community college, it is important the system has a relationship with K-12 school districts as well as other universities, Snyder said. In northeast Indiana, for instance, it is important to work with Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, he said.

“Our job is to get them more juniors and seniors that they couldn’t otherwise get,” he said. Ivy Tech can reach out to high schools and show students – particularly those in urban schools – that college is possible and can be affordable.

It is also important to work with the communities in which the campuses are located and emphasize that Ivy Tech is the community’s college and working together will only strengthen the community, he said.

“If we have a workforce that has the kind of skill set that is globally competitive, there’s no reason the jobs aren’t going to stay here or migrate here.”

kstockman@jg.net